Nico Rosberg insists Lewis Hamilton has no choice over quitting F1

2016 F1 world champion Nico Rosberg has said that his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton has no option but to carry on at Ferrari.

Rosberg and Hamilton were team-mates at Mercedes between 2013-2016, where they were involved in three fiercely fought championship battles.

Following 12 seasons at the Brackley-based outfit, Hamilton opted to ditch Mercedes and join Ferrari at the beginning of 2025, but his move to Maranello has not gone to plan.

In a torrid first season, Hamilton could only finish sixth in the drivers' championship, and failed to achieve even one grand prix podium.

He still has one year left on his Ferrari contract in 2026, but recently said that he was 'not looking forward' to that particular season, despite admitting he was excited to get rid of the current generation of cars, with wholesale regulation changes sweeping into the sport next year.

Hamilton joined the team in the hope of helping to turn their fortunes around as far as championship success goes, with the team not having won a world championship of any kind since 2008.

And amid a number of documents that Hamilton has sent suggesting the changes that need to be made to the team in order to get back to that level, alongside Charles Leclerc who has also been very vocal about the way Ferrari is run, Rosberg has said that Hamilton has no option to just leave the team after a single season.

"I think he has to continue," Rosberg told Sky Sports F1 at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. "Stopping now is not cool. He only just started this Ferrari project. To give up after only one season doesn't work.

"He has to continue, give it another shot and hope he feels comfortable in that next-year car. Maybe the car is a good car? This year's car is not great. His great struggle this year was qualifying pace.

"In the race there was flashes of brilliance that we kept seeing. It's just qualifying pace and with the car being so different next year, maybe he can find some of that old magic again in qualifying. The hope is still there, definitely."

Can Hamilton bounce back in 2026?

Hamilton's 2025 form left much room for improvement even amid the poor performance of the SF-25, finishing 86 points behind team-mate Leclerc in the same car.

While there is hope that Ferrari can challenge nearer to the front when new regulations sweep into the sport next year, with a potential shake up of the current competitive order of the teams expected, Hamilton will also be hopeful about the new regulations.

He will have hope that the new cars are more suited to his personal talents, with the seven-time world champion only having claimed two grands prix victories in four full seasons of the current regulations.

It will likely be last chance saloon for Hamilton, with no indication that Ferrari are looking at this stage to extend his contract beyond 2026, with the Brit turning 41 in January.

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